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Wrista Ipex
Wrista Ipex was born in 15 BBY. Like many of the Twi'lek species, she never knew Ryloth as a homeworld, instead born on the galactic capital of Coruscant during Imperial reign. Over the course of time, she would find events and her own recurring wanderlust taking her from dubious beginnings as a wayward Coruscanti youth to an upstanding and talented officer of the New Republic Marine Corps. Background Birth and Family Wrista was born a scion of the Ipex clan, an oddly atypical, aristocratic family based in Coruscant's Upper City stratum. The family has generations worth of history in the area, reaching back well into the eras of the Old Republic. The Ipex family has a reputation for producing many talented scientists, particularly in the biosciences. This fact saw the family through the difficult eras in which the Galactic Empire held sway over Coruscant, and also accounted for their social status. The other noteworthy item concerned the Ipex clan's perceived oddness due to being a mixed-species family — roughly three quarters of the family members were human, the family's original stock. The rest were Twi'lek, descended from family slaves that the family had voluntarily emancipated and adopted at some point in the past. Wrista's father was a noted geneticist, his wife a biochemist. Their work would form the foundation for Wrista's entire life, in a much more profound manner than such things usually do. Before she was born, her parents plied their craft on her genes, making minor alterations to various portions of her biochemistry and genetic makeup. Exactly what they hoped to accomplish in this is only known by them, and whether they succeeded in the experiment is currently unresolved. Wrista was aware of this event in her genesis and what it meant to her on a practical basis, but not the reasons. Her parents, realizing that such practices were frowned upon and questionably ethical at best in the wake of the Clone Wars and the Empire's rise, and illegal research at worst in some cases, kept the alterations they had made to themselves and taught their daughter to do the same. Even the rest of the family were unaware of them, despite her unusually short stature and peculiar dietary habits. Youthful Shenanigans Wrista's early childhood passed without a great deal of note. She had a happy, pleasant, and comfortable home life, despite living under the thumb of the Empire on the capitol planet. Everything was quite smooth — at least, until the onset of her teenage years. The young Twi'lek girl had never shown much interest or aptitude for the sciences. This was generally accepted as normal for a child, particularly as she was perfectly intelligent — she simply lacked the desire to delve into the mysteries of such topics. However, as she neared adolescence, a new, more worrisome trend began to develop in her activities. Wrista, who had always been a very physically active (and perhaps, hyperactive) child, began to act out and spend time with the "undesirable" adolescents of the ecumenopolis. Most of this activity featured generally harmless, if problematic, behavior. Vandalism, trespassing, minor thefts, a popular activity known as 'street-running', and the like. However, it wasn't long before she and her friends were venturing into the Undercity levels in search of their thrills, and much of her time quickly became spent in these dangerous areas. A Change in Direction Wrista's time with the youth streetgangs of Coruscant took a turn in her mid-teens, when she came under the attention of a peculiar old derelict in the Undercity, a veteran warrior that had fallen on hard times. Despite her peers' general disdain for the old man, Wrista found herself compelled to engage him in conversation. His name, she soon discovered, was Valorus Thane, a member of one of the small cultural enclaves outside of Thyrsus that still maintained the ancient Echani culture. He had fought in the later stages of the Clone Wars in a mercenary unit that had hired out to the Separatists, and later in the early stages of the Rebellion. Thane was also a surprisingly genial man, more than willing to offer stories of his past as a warrior in exchange for nothing more than the attention of an audience and the occasional warm meal. In turn, Thane quickly discovered he had an apt pupil in the young twi'lek, who he found had very few compulsions against energetically engaging him in questions about his stories, often making pointed inquiries to the reasons behind the events being described. Thane also found, much to his delight, that Wrista— like most twi'leks— had an acute understanding of the importance and subtleties of body language. Soon, the pair found themselves engaged in an education of the Echani culture which gradually gave way to a more formal instruction in its martial ways. Wrista's parents were unsure of this development when it came to their attention, but Thane, with assistance from Wrista, convinced them that it was both useful, and perhaps inevitable that she would walk this new path. Truthfully, the elder Ipexes were simply thankful their offspring had found a more constructive outlet for her excess of energy than the gangs had provided. At least, if she was going to be spending all her free time in the Undercity, it would be in relatively safe company. It was in this fashion that both individuals would see a turning point in their lives. Wrista learned much, honing her affinity for the nuances of body language, learning to use the strengths of her person to advantage, and a fine appreciation for technique and accuracy with the weapons of combat among myriad other lessons in the Echani philosophies. Valorus, meanwhile, found a renewed interest for the galaxy beyond the Undercity life in teaching the youth. Eventually, Wrista's training with her master would come to an end, shortly after she turned her twenty-first year. Having imparted everything he felt he could pass on by this point, Thane informed Wrista that she had learned all she could from him, and that now was the time that she would have to continue her training through experiential means. In short, it was now time to leave the safe harbor of training and learn further through experience. At first, Wrista involved herself in Coruscant's underground competitive pit-fighting with this in mind. However, she had scarcely started this new endeavor before an uneasy wanderlust settled down on her, and she decided this was perhaps not the experience she was intended to seek. The New Republic Marines Where Wrista ended up finding herself next turned out to be the Coruscant recruiter's offices for the New Republic Marine Corps, as much a surprise to herself as anyone else. The recruiter found it odd that such a very small twi'lek woman would be interested in not just the armed forces, but arguably the most physically demanding branch available. However, the NRMC's egalitarian policies were enough to get her signed up for training, where it became evident in short order that she was more than equal to the task. Given her particular physical stature and talent for stealth, and thanks to the extremely observant nature instilled by Valorus Thane, she soon found herself undergoing Scout specialization training in particular and selected for officer candidacy. Coruscant and Raider Battalion Wrista graduated the Marine Corps training program with distinction, and was assigned to Raider Battalion, stationed aboard the NRSD Reprisal. She was a squad leader in Raider's Alpha Company, but rather quickly found herself promoted to Second Lieutenant and command of Alpha's First Platoon. As Bandit One, she saw quite a bit of action, participating in the anti-pirate actions of Operation Clean Sweep in the depths of Coruscant's Undercity. During these times, she met and formed friendships with many fellow officers and Members of the Republic, including Aramis Tyrese, Javin Mitali, Vengan Draelis, and Luke Skywalker. Clean Sweep, as dangerous an action as it had been, would prove to be scarcely a warm-up. Shortly after the operation, the Imperial Retribution of Coruscant began, and soon Wrista, like most of the Republican military, found themselves in heated fighting for the planet. Initially dispatched to help lay the foundations of the Menrai Corridor, Wrista eventually found herself and several other scouts from Bandit One cut off from the rest of the battalion by Imperial Stormtroopers while on a reconnaissance expedition. Determined to do what they could, the impromptu detachment began to harass the Imperial forces from behind the front lines as best they could without drawing too much attention back on themselves, using a combination of sniper and covert demolition tactics. The actions, ultimately, had at best minor effects on the Imperial advance. Wrista was able to link back up with friendly forces, exploiting her knowledge of the Undercity and the distraction of the initial evacuations to reach the Forward Operating Base, arriving at approximately the same time as Skywalker, injured from his duel with Korolov. Despite being tired, bloodied, and dirty, the Marines of First Platoon, now reunited despite losses, threw themselves into helping ensure that the evacuation would be completed safely. Dac and Operation Caregiver In the wake of the evacuation and escape from Coruscant, Wrista found herself, along with many Marines, a participant in Operation Care Giver. Responsible for helping to oversee the refugee camps and their security while on Dac, the twi'lek took it upon herself to contact Del Marx, a fellow Coruscanti she had met while escorting an officer to Nar Shaddaa. Wrista was able to convince Marx to arrange for the Republic to receive emergency supplies through an assortment of underworld channels to help ease the weight Dac would have to bear from the refugees, an act for which she would later receive the Marine Expeditionary Award, along with a promotion to First Lieutenant. Ord Mantell With the move to Ord Mantell at the conclusion of Care Giver, Wrista had scarcely settled in before she began to feel the familiar pull of wanderlust. Finding it increasingly hard to ignore, she filed a request for discharge at the end of her tour of duty, unsure where she would go once released, but feeling that there was a destination to be found somewhere. Due to the Republic's extreme needs, the request was suspended indefinitely. Accepting this as a necessity, though a bothersome one, Wrista has since carried out her duties with more cheer than could likely be expected, taking advantage of her unusual situation to acquire somewhat more leisure time than normal. With this added freedom, she developed closer ties to the Jedi Order, and to the Senate after Del Marx won the seat for Ord Mantell. As such, as often as she could be found on the grounds of the military base, she spent nearly as much time in and around the Government Complex or the Jedi Temple, allowing her to expand her associations and friendships quite a bit. Of particular note, her relationship with the Order and the Senate put her in contact with Aranzael Moyat, who she developed a respectful rapport with in the interests of cultural exchange. Eventually, Wrista's wanderlust urge settled down, and revoked her petition for discharge, deciding that either the surge of restlessness had been premature, or had subsided in the face of the more pressing concerns of the Republic. She continued to carry out operations for the New Republic, though she now found herself operating independently of her squad on a more frequent basis. One notable such instance was her infiltration of the Imperial Gala Celebration in an effort to make contact with her family, who she had been forced to leave behind on Coruscant and whose fate had at that point, remained a mystery to the twi'lek. Scatterswipe and Cochran Wrista experienced a marked change in what could be described as her lot in life as the New Republic military launched Operation Scatterswipe. The twi'lek marine found herself involved less in direct ground action with her fellow Marines and more often serving as a liaison and coordination officer, helping to direct Marine actions within the combined Fleet/Star/GroundOps operations Scatterswipe often entailed. This new facet to her duties also brought her into the planning sessions for many of the strikes she was involved in. This would come to something of a culmination as Wrista found herself involved in the Showdown at Cochran. Due to her recent activities with the fleet and personal familiarity with him, Luke Skywalker requested her assistance on the bridge of the Refrain of Anshalar during the battle. Her primary duties there, aside from tactical advice, involved tracking the battle as it unfolded and making sure that the Jedi's orders were delivered to the rest of the fleet. After the battle, she joined Skywalker and Vengen Draelis' squad in exploring the abandoned Sith Factory on the surface. Afterwards, she had no time to rest-- she had scarcely been groundside on Ord Mantell four hours before being told to pack a bag. Scatterswipe was ramping up, and Dathomir was calling her name. Disaster at Dathomir The climax of Operation Scatterswipe was to be an ambitious raid on the planet of Dathomir. Wrista was assigned to oversee the capture of an Imperial CR90 Corvette by a combined force of mercenaries and Marines. She rode into the action aboard one of the Marine assault shuttles, providing the ground forces on the corvette command oversight and a link to what was going on in the attendant fleet battle. Unfortunately, the raid was doomed to failure as it came under the assault of an Imperial ambush. While a fleet comprised of Interdictors and Star Destroyers trapped the raiding force, Wrista's troops found the corvette populated by stormtroopers far in excess of anything that could be expected. Despite this, the NR ground force ultimately succeeded in taking control of the corvette, though the Stormtroopers ultimately managed to shut down the ship's reactor, causing it to free-fall into Dathomir's atmosphere. Realizing that the corvette would soon break apart and that despite damage, the shuttle was still flight-worthy, Wrista ordered the marines back to their shuttle and instructed the pilot to perform an emergency landing on the surface. On the unfamiliar planetary surface, wild and untamed as it was, Wrista found herself in her element-- wilderness survival was one of the things for which she had been extensively trained as a Scout. She quickly pushed the survivors into motion, ordering the shuttle to be stripped of useful and sensitive materials before setting the group out to locate a suitable location were they could find seclusion from the Imperial eyes they assumed would be on the way, as well as shelter, water, and sustainable food sources. She, as the most qualified individual, ended up de facto commander of the survivor group, though she never officially claimed the position. The twi'lek organized search parties and sent them seeking other crashed survivors, determined to make sure every member of the fleet that had made it to the planet would also make it back off of it. She frequently joined the search, hunting and foraging parties, preferring to lead the efforts from the front where they would be most useful. During this ordeal, she proved herself a capable leader, doing her best not only to keep "her people" alive, but also in as high morale as possible in the difficult situation. As it turned out, a group of Imperials involved in the battle had also become stranded on the surface, a fact discovered when Wrista and a group from her camp and a group from the Imperial camp attempted to recover the same pair of survivors simultaneously. After managing to save the Imperials(minus one) from an enraged airborne reptile, both groups had an uneasy meeting at the crash site. When this gave way to news that the Imperial camp was under attack by the native rancors, however, Wrista was quick to offer a truce and a place at the New Republic camp. Ultimately, while a tense coexistence, it was a peaceful one. When the New Republic arrived with a rescue force, Wrista proved true to her word, leaving the Imperials peacefully and uncaptured to await their own rescue, even going so far as to order supplies from the NRCV Audacity's stores left behind. The 73rd Brigade As with virtually all of the survivors from Dathomir, Wrista was welcomed home to Ord Mantell with much ado and relief, and decorated for her actions both in the raid and on the planet. She also found-- to her own surprise if noone else's-- that her actions in the affair had earned her a promotion and re-posting. She was given the rank of Captain, and re-assigned to the New Republic 73rd Marine Brigade as a part of the command team under BGN Alicia Kines. Wrista quite suddenly found herself adjusting to life among the upper ranks and spending much more time in Command Centers staring at broadly-scoped strategic map holos. The Dac Civil War Wrista found herself in the middle of intensive Command Officer training aboard Orbital Station Paladin when the events of unrest began on Dac. Initially, she was not among those marines assigned to assist on the planet's surface, and even left the station briefly to take part in an unofficial mission to rescue Shael Edur from Imperial custody on Coruscant, after being contacted by friend and fellow Republic military member Kyrin Sh'vani. However, as events began to heat up, and as the 224th Battalion found itself rotated out amidst political repercussions of alleged improper actions, Brigadier General Kines decided that she needed a staff officer on the scene to investigate the situation. As Wrista was both expedient due to already being in orbit around the planet, and well-suited to the sort of discreet fact-finding and independent operation required, she soon found herself on the surface at her superior's orders. Shortly after arriving, she found herself in an informal meeting between herself, Senator Del Marx, Luke Skywalker, and Kyrin. During the course of their discussion regarding the situation unfolding on Dac, Wrista found her first two tasks in the struggle. First, she would have to conduct a formal investigation into the events surrounding the 224th's actions on the planet in order to assist Del in resolving the problem. Second, at Luke's behest, she would next assist Luke in ascertaining the origin of the armed, organized faction that had begun surfacing in the planet's recent turmoil, ostensibly then to directly investigate them further. Appearance and Personality Wrista is extremely short by most standards, standing at just about exactly five feet tall. Her skin is a light grey color, sometimes described as silver, though rarely by herself. Her lekku have a subtle tiger-stripe patterning in a grey that is just a touch lighter than her overall skin tone, such that the patterning is difficult to notice in most conditions. She has somewhat large eyes, the irises a vibrant red color with flecks of gold. She prefers to let her lekku hang loose down her back, rather than draping them around her neck as many twi'leks do. When on-duty, she prefers to garb herself in dark blue fatigues with subdued-color Republic and unit patches typical of the Scout specialization she started the marines with, and a matching length of ribbon that criss-crosses around her lekku. Often these fatigues are accompanied by a hooded, parka-like camouflage wrap thrown over them, dredging up memories of pre-NR Alliance SpecForce feild wear, though when not in combat, the wrap is usually reversed to display its solid-color interior. Her most prevalent civilian clothing is a long sleeved black casual athletic shirt with bright red across the shoulders, a pair of simple, rugged pants with a thin red stripe along the outer leg seam, red and white athletic shoes, and a red ribbon wrapped around her lekku. Often she will wear a pair of black fingerless gloves, as well. Wrista is, usually, a bright and sunny person with a strong sense of honor and duty. Quick to make friends, almost always sporting some sort of smile or grin, even when things aren't going so well. She is polite and considerate, with a wicked sense of humour that she levels on friends with impunity. She tends to be popular among her peers, and adores the children of New Alderaan-- often she can be found with them when she is home on Ord Mantell, telling stories, joining in their games, or more often, their mischief as she shares her experiences growing up "a Coruscanti ruffian". She is quick to support other people's ambitions and often attempts to push people towards what she sees as their potential. For all of her seemingly boundless energy and enthusiasm, Wrista does not have difficulty staying still when necessary. She can focus herself with a kind of patience that at times seems beyond her ability when it suits her or becomes necessary, and has a keen sense of moderation. Much of this has come from her training, and was often a struggle to achieve when she was younger. Wrista does not care for space travel, given the option. Point of fact, she has what one might call a selective claustrophobia. While she has very little trouble with enclosed and cramped spaces in general, being only too happy to go shimmying along pipes and ducts, or spend long periods in cramped ambush spaces... she has what can only be called "trouble" with starships. While she is capable of dealing with her problem, as being a marine often means such travel is necessary, Wrista becomes uncomfortable in the confines of a starship. The size of the ship and the number of people are the chief factors in such disquiet-- while being stationed on a large ship, such as a Star Destroyer or Cruiser gives her relatively little disquiet, even when there are large numbers of people aboard, the cramped confines of an assault shuttle full of marines has a marked and noticeable effect, and she will often seek distraction from her unease if combat operations are not available to provide it. OOC Info Wrista was made the New Republic Military Organization Head in March of 2007. Ipex, Wrista Ipex, Wrista Ipex, Wrista